Just Give Me a Second Chance
by AlwayzWriting
Summary: <html><head></head>Will's cousin Ashe used to torment him mercilessly, and now after a few too many incidents at her old school she's being sent to live with the Strongholds. While she's struggling to get one of her powers under control two bad boys have her in their sights</html>
1. Chapter 1

Will looked at his parents the Monday before he started his sophomore year at Sky High. His cousin Ashe was coming to live with them.

"You're kidding right? This is some kind of sick joke."

"No, apparently Ashe had a few too many incidents at C. C. High and got transferred to your school." Steve replied from over the top of his newspaper.

"It's a wonder she made it to her junior year." Will commented remembering the cousin who had stripped him to his boxers and duct taped him to a light pole, on Main Street.

"Your aunt Jenna promises that Ashe has grown out of all those pranks she pulled on you and that this time it wasn't her fault." Josie told will. "She'll be here on Friday, and I expect you to help her get settled in." By Friday, Will was even less enthusiastic about his cousin's arrival than he had been on Monday, and had asked his friends to come over and help her move in.

"Ashe, I wish you'd put all those boxes down, you're going to cause a scene." Josie said walking in the door. The kids stood in the door way to the den and watched as a girl with waist length auburn hair, and electric blue eyes walked in wearing a sky blue hoody, blue jeans and flip flops. Following behind her were three boxes, floating in the air.

"Hey Will." She greeted smiling at him. "Who are your friends?"

"Uh, this is Ethan, Zack, and Magenta. You already know Layla." Ashe nodded to them then went up the stairs, her boxes and everyone's eyes following her. "Mom, I think you brought the wrong kid home." Will called.

"Don't be silly, Will." Josie replied. "Ashe has just gone through a lot since she got her powers. Oh which reminds me, don't go annoying her. One of her powers is unstable."

"Perfect and unstable psychopath." Will said rolling his eyes. He turned around and found his friends rushing up the stairs. Quickly he followed after them and all of them stared at Ashe who was sitting in the middle of the spare bedroom while her boxes appeared to be unpacking themselves.

"Telekinesis right?" They all looked at Ethan.

"Mmhm." Ashe replied, watching some books get set up on a shelf.

"And this unstable power?" Will asked

"Pray you never find out." Ashe answered staring at her hands. "If you'll excuse me I need to get back to meditating."

"Why don't you join us at the Paper Lantern tonight?" Layla invited.

"Sure I could go for Chinese." Ashe said.

"Why did you invite my cousin to dinner with us?" Will demanded, halfway down the hall.

"Because of Warren, duh." Magenta replied. "I'd bet we see some definite sparks there."

That night at the restaurant the new girl who walked in with Will Stronghold and his friends caught the attention of two people at the exact same time. One, who unbeknownst to Will and his friends was already her boyfriend and the other they didn't notice.


	2. Chapter 2

Ashe smiled at Warren as he came up to the table.

"Ashe, what are you doing here?" Warren asked pulling her out booth and hugging her, a move that took the others by complete surprise.

"I moved in with my aunt and uncle." Ashe replied, pulling away as she felt her power about to act up.

"Warren how do you know my cousin?" Will asked.

"He's my boyfriend." Ashe announced, sitting back down.

"We've been having a long distance relationship for about three months." Warren added.

"How is that even possible?" Will asked.

"After I found out about my other power my mom sent me to an after school clinic so I could figure out how to control it. Warren was one of the teen counselors there and helped me out a lot." The group just stared at the two "troubled" teens mind blown. Warren a teen counselor at a special clinic? They'd been dating for three months? One of the cooks called Warren back into the kitchen.

"I'll call you tonight." He told Ashe before returning to the back. When got back to the house Will wouldn't leave his cousin alone about her relationship with Warren, and he was really starting to get on her nerves. She clenched her fists trying to keep control of her temper.

"I just don't buy it." He said and Ashe whirled around facing him, sparks shooting out of her fists.

"Fine, the truth is the first week I snuck out of the clinic thinking I could handle this on my own." She snapped a tightly closed fist. "I ran into Warren who'd been visiting Baron Battle in prison, but I don't want my mom to know that I skipped the clinic and he doesn't want his to know that he was visiting his dad." The sparks were now shooting from Ashe's fists like some kind of wild living thing trying desperately to escape her grip. She looked down at her hands then shot up stairs.

At school on Monday Ashe managed to keep to herself until lunch where Warren decided to join her at a table and smiled a bit awkwardly at her. It was common knowledge that his relationship with Kayla had only lasted a couple months so everyone was curious as to who this new girl was to him.

"Don't worry, Warren I'm pretty new to the dating scene myself." Ashe replied shyly. "Everyone's staring at us."

"They're not used to me sitting with anyone." Warren replied. "Occasionally Will and his friends will sit with me but I normally sit alone."

"Sounds perfect. If I can skate by unnoticed this year and next, then we'll be good." Ashe would be the first to admit that things were different between her and Warren since she moved into town. Before they would talk about anything now neither of them could think of a single thing to say, so they sat in silence. After lunch Ashe had chemistry where Mr. Medulla paired her up, laughingly, with a boy in a striped shirt, named Lash. The boy smiled brightly as he sat down.

"You're new here right?" He asked.

"Gee what was your first clue?" Ashe replied sarcastically.

"I'm pretty sure I would have noticed you before." Lash said and Ashe just stared at him. "How about I show you around?"

"Thanks but no thanks." Ashe replied curtly.

"I get it, you must have heard about what happened last year and decided I wasn't worth knowing. Well, I'll tell you what I've turned over a new leaf but none of these self-righteous pricks will hear it. All I want and need is a second chance." Ashe sat there stunned then looked at Lash sincerely.

"I know exactly, what you mean."


	3. Chapter 3

Lash and Ashe walked to gym together and he told her about his involvement with Royal Pain, and how he'd gotten probation instead of actual time, he told her how he was trying to be a good guy but that no one would let him forget what he'd done.

"I know how that feels. My first couple of years I pulled a lot of pranks on people using my telekinesis and I accidently put a kid in the hospital when I found out about my other powers. I was warned afterward that if another "incident" at the school involved me I'd get sent away. I had been going to see the principal about some private lessons when this asshole ran up and slapped me on the ass. For a brief second I lost my temper and at that same second the principal had his hand on the same door knob." Ashe sighed then went into the girls' locker room and changed for class, letting her mind and body relax from her heart to heart with Lash.

"You must be Warren's new girlfriend." Said a blond, in a white summer dress. "I'm Kayla, his ex. Word to the wise, Warren is my man so leave him be."

"Your man huh? I guess that explains why he's been dating me for three months." Kayla sneered, and then marched away. Ashe went into the gym and smiled at Lash.

"She's got daggers for you." He said pointing to Kayla when she walked out of the locker room a few minutes later.

"Yes, and I have a feeling gym is going to be interesting, for today at least." Coach Boomer came out and instructed everyone to run laps. On the third lap she slipped on a patch of ice that disappeared after she saw it.

"Klutz much?" Kayla asked, smirking as she ran past. Lash helped Ashe up, who was working on trying to stay calm, even as she used her telekinesis to tie Kayla's shoelaces together. A few seconds later the ice queen went falling on her face and everyone in the class stopped running to laugh. Kayla's face turned bright red and when everyone started running again she froze Ashe's feet to the floor. Ashe looked at Kayla and knocked her feet out from under her. Boomer blew his whistle and announced that the class was going to be playing dodge ball. The girls got placed on opposite teams and glared at each other. The game was going fine until Kayla hit Ashe in the back with an ice ball. Ashe was unable to control her temper and lightning shot out of her hands like beams from a Tessa coil, searching for anything to conduct from. Ashe looked around nervously for a second then took off flying out of one of the windows away from the school and let go of all her control and watched as her body became its own electrical storm with lightning shooting from her body across the sky, in mile long streaks. When she'd calmed down enough to go back to the school Ashe was doing more of a slow fall than flying. She didn't remember what happened after that only that she woke up in the nurse's office after school with Warren and her Aunt Josie sitting in the room with her.

"Hey, Sleeping Beauty." Warren greeted smiling.

"Aunt Josie, I'm sorry. I didn't mean too." Ashe sobbed.

"Shh, it's ok Ashe; you did the right thing, getting away from the school when you lost control like that. You're a teenage girl of course you're going to lose control of your emotions."


	4. Chapter 4

Warren was visiting Ashe that night and giving her a neck massage while she meditated. She loved the feel of his fingers on her skin especially when he was massaging her that alone could almost make her completely relax.

"What made you go off like that?" He asked.

"An ice princess named Kayla." Ashe told him. Warren sighed and his warm breath on the back of her neck sent a shiver down her spine.

"Don't worry about Kayla, she's a spoiled little brat who thinks she can get anything she wants." He told her pulling her closer by wrapping his arms around her.

"Why did you dump her?" Ashe asked curiously.

"She wanted me to be more like Will and less like me."

"Oh please don't become like my cousin or else I'll have to duct tape you to things."

"Things? What all have you duct taped him to?" Warren asked chuckling.

"Street signs, light posts, his parents car, the ceiling, the chimney, the roof, you know usual stuff." Warren laughed and kissed the side of Ashe's neck.

"Lash Garrison stopped by the nurse's office while you were resting. I want you to be careful around him." Ashe pulled out of Warren's arms and looked out her bedroom window, and Warren could feel that wall coming between them again.

"I never told you why I had to go to the clinic did I?" She asked.

"No." Warren replied watching her carefully.

"Last year at homecoming, while you and Will were saving the school I found out about my electric manipulation. I was on a date with a guy I'd been crushing on for a while and on the last dance he gave me a kiss and in return I gave him enough of an electric charge to send him into a coma for three months." Warren walked over to her and turned her face so she was looking at him.

"That was an accident though."

"Yes, but the rest of the school didn't see it that way. He didn't see it that way either and to me putting someone in the hospital is a lot worse than taking over a school." Warren sighed seeing her point and pulled her into his arms.

"Just don't put me into a coma." He whispered before kissing her.

"Oh sorry, didn't mean to interrupt." Will said opening the door to her room. "Ashe you got a phone call." Ashe smiled at Warren then went downstairs and picked up the house phone.

"Hello?"

"I'm glad I got the right Stronghold, I was worried that Will would answer."

"Excuse me?"

"Oh sorry, it's Lash."

"Oh hey, what's up?"

"I just wanted to make sure you're ok, Peace wouldn't let me see you."

"Yeah, I'm fine apparently when I lost my temper like that it took up a lot of energy so I kind of zonked out."

"At least you're ok." Lash said. Ashe spotted Warren coming down the stairs.

"Hey I got to go, I'll talk to you later."


	5. Chapter 5

The next day at school Ashe smiled when Lash sat next to her at lunch. She ignored Kayla's passing comment about them being so cute together and smiled at Warren who sat across from her glaring at Lash.

"What ever happened to your buddy Speed?" Warren asked and Ashe just stared at him.

"He dropped out." Lash replied easily.

"Why didn't you do the same?" Will asked sitting next to Warren and sparks tickled Ashe's finger tips, as she glared at her cousin.

"I didn't have much choice, and thought I'd try out this hero business."

"Just like that you thought you'd go from zero to hero?" Will asked. Ashe stood up before making Will's tray jump up in his face and marched out of the cafeteria. Warren caught up with her down the hall.

"Ashe what's wrong?"

"We talked about this Warren. Lash has paid for what he did, and he's my friend. He doesn't need you or Will or anyone else to make him feel like public enemy number one, and I won't stand for it either." Ashe yelled trying hard to make her emotions stay in check.

"Look I'm sorry it's just hard to look past the fact that he helped Royal Pain." Ashe looked at Warren in disbelief.

"Yeah but you seem to be able to look past the fact that I put someone in the hospital."

"That was an accident." Warren pointed out again.

"Forget it Warren! Go back to Kayla and tell her that you are just like Will Stronghold. You will turn a blind eye to the misdeeds of your friends but you won't let someone else forget theirs." Ashe snapped then walked away leaving Warren standing in the middle of the hallway absolutely stunned. Never before had someone told him he was just like Will.

Ashe was sitting in the mad science lab meditating before class started. Mr. Medulla was writing the lesson on the board and didn't bother her as she regained her composer. Lash sat next to her and she smiled to herself, even with her eyes closed she knew him by his Axe® deodorant, though she did admit to herself that she preferred Warren's Old Spice® smell better.

"You didn't have to break up with Peace over me."

"I didn't. I came to Sky high because I got tired of everyone at Command Central high holding my past against me, so I know all too well how you feel, and with Warren a break up was inevitable ever since I got here we just haven't been the same." Ashe explained and watched as the other students filed in. Lash nodded facing the front of the room as Mr. Medulla started his lesson. Lash would never admit it but he was thankful for Ashe being at the school that year. If she wasn't he might have fallen into the old habit of "villain-in-training" as he'd called it. With Ashe though he had someone who understood what he was going through and that meant more to him than he thought it would. He glanced out the door and saw Warren glaring at him.


	6. Chapter 6

_**A/N: to my readers, I no longer have the internet at my house, and am not sure when I will have the internet, but I will update when I can. I have not stopped writing and I hope you will be patient with me while you are waiting for the next chapter of my stories.**_

_**Thank you for your patience,**_

_**CSHarrison**_

After chemistry Ashe had a private lesson on controlling her electric manipulation with Principal Powers, and after that she had personal health, then scenario tactics both of which she had with both Warren and Lash who sat on either side of her. After a few weeks Lash asked her for some help with his homework and went home with her and Will.

"So this is the Stronghold house?" He asked.

"Yeah, Lash you know this because you came here last year when Gwen threw that party to get the pacifier." Will said curtly.

"William, leave him alone before I duct tape you to the ceiling again." Ashe warned and led Lash up to her room where they got to work on their homework. "You know for someone who asked for my help you don't seem to need it." Ashe commented an hour later.

"I couldn't think of any other way to get to spend some time alone with you." He admitted and Ashe found herself blushing.

"Why would you want to be alone with me?"

"So I can do this?" Ashe thought he was going to kiss her but he surprised her by tickling her instead. Lash tickled her long and hard until she thought she was going to pee her pants from laughing so hard, and short little sparks shot out of her finger tips like fire crackers. When he finally stopped tickling her Lash was so tangled around her he wasn't sure which limb was his leg and which was his arm. A shape filled the doorway and both teenagers looked at Mrs. Stronghold and Ashe fell into more peals of laughter as Lash started unwrapping himself from her and Josie looked pleasantly surprised to hear her niece laughing. "Hi Mrs. Stronghold, I'm Lash Garrison." He greeted offering his hand, once he was back to his normal size.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Lash, he have pizza downstairs if you two want to join us." Josie offered.

"Thanks Aunt Josie, we'll be right down." Ashe replied then got up off the floor and fixed her hair.

"Ashe would you go to homecoming with me?"

"As long as you don't try to take over the school." She teased lightly, Lash smiled brightly and the two made their way downstairs to the dining room where they saw that Will had invited Layla and Warren over.

"We must admit Lash, you and Ashe had all of us scared when we first heard her laughing." Josie said halfway through dinner.

"Very much." Steve added. "It had been so long since we heard her laugh we forgot what it sounded like."

"Well I knew she was always meditating to calm her nerves and I thought I'd just see if she was enjoying herself."

"That was a little risky wasn't it with her powers being unstable?" Layla asked.

"I wasn't worried." Lash replied smiling at Ashe. The entire time Warren was glaring at the two silently munching on his pizza.


	7. Chapter 7

Ashe and Lash were pretty much inseparable, it was clear the two had a deep connection. The Strongholds were happy because the two weren't wreaking havoc on the school or the other students. Kayla was happy because she could chase after Warren now, who wasn't happy at all. Truth be told he was jealous of what Lash and Ashe had together, the entire two weeks since their break up Ashe hadn't lost her temper once.

"I don't know if it's weird or just disgusting." Magenta said one day before school as she, Will Layla and the others watched the two on the steps of the school.

"I think it's kind of sweet." Layla commented. They watched as Lash and Ashe raced up and down the steps. "Do you think they're going to homecoming together?"

"They are, my mom's taking her to get her dress today after school." Will said casting a glance at Warren who looked completely impassive as he watched the couple in question. The bell rang and everyone scurried inside. On her way to her math class Ashe was stopped by none other than Kayla who demanded to know what kind of spell she put on Warren.

"What are you talking about?" Ashe asked.

"You dumped Warren and he won't talk to me so tell me what you did to him."

"I accepted him as he was, nothing more and nothing less." Kayla stared at her then marched away. Ashe sighed and walked into her class. After school Josie took Ashe to the mall and they hunted the stores for a homecoming dress.

"Will says you and Lash spend a lot of time together."

"He makes me feel like I can do anything with or without my powers, corny I know but it's true." Ashe pulled out a Greek style dress and studied it. "After what happened at my old school I had started to feel as though no one was going to be able to look past it, with Lash though it doesn't matter, he just sees me."

"Sounds like love to me." Josie said smiling. Ashe didn't respond seeing a pretty blue dress hanging nearby. She picked it up and held it to her. It was a beautiful spaghetti strap with rhinestones placed along the neck line which was just low enough to show a hint of cleavage. She took it to the dressing room and tried it on.

"It's beautiful, Ashe." Josie said when her niece stepped out in it. Josie looked at the price tag and bit her lip then decided that for her niece it was worth it. When they got home Warren was waiting for her.

"Ashe can I talk to you?"

"Of course."

"I'm sorry that I was such a jerk. I did turn a blind eye to the fact that you put someone in the hospital, while I held Lash responsible for what he did."

"Warren it's not me you have to apologize to it's Lash Will needs to apologize too."

"I was kind of hoping you could convince him to be my partner in Save the Citizen sometime."

"I'll talk to him about it but you're the one who has to ask." Ashe told him then walked inside not sure how she felt about Warren's sudden want for Lash as a partner in Save the Citizen.


	8. Chapter 8

Lash was in his room working on a present for Ashe before he met her at the movies. Her present was a drawing he'd made of her name down the right hand side, looking like lightning and in the middle he was working on drawing her. There was a knock on the door and Speed burst in smiling.

"Hey bud, what's up?" Lash quickly his drawing, forgetting about his practice sketches on the wall.

"Hey, Speed what have you been up to?"

"Little of this, little of that. Hey is it true you're trying to be a hero now?"

"Trying, but you what these guys are like." Lash smiled thinking that if it wasn't Ashe he would have given up a while ago.

"Who's this chick?" Speed asked pointing to one of the practice drawings.

"Uh, Ashe, she's pretty cool." Lash replied smiling. Speed looked at his best friend sensing that something in him had changed.

"Come on, let's go shoot some hoops." Lash looked at his alarm clock and decided he had come time to kill before he had to meet Ashe.

Two hours later Ashe was standing in front of the theater wondering where Lash was.

"Where's your shadow?" She whirled around and looked at Warren. "Didn't mean to scare you." He said, giving her an apologetic smile.

"It's ok, my mind was elsewhere."

"As in Lash Garrison?"

"Yeah, he was supposed to meet me here twenty minutes ago."

"How about I take you to the park? I seem to remember someone used to like going there to clear her mind."

"Thanks Warren, the park sounds nice." When they arrived Ashe spotted Lash laughing at some guy teasing a couple of little kids. Slowly she made her way over to the bully and stole the ball from him.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing?"

"It's called being a decent human being. It's one thing to pick on someone your own age but it's something else entirely to pick on little kids who can't protect themselves. She snapped then walked back over to Warren. "You wouldn't be willing to take me home would you?"

"Sure . . .?" He replied confused. Together they walked back to his motorcycle and rode back to the Stronghold house. "Ashe, are you ok? You seem a little too calm."

"I'm fine, Warren, just a little disappointed in Lash, I guess. I pulled pranks on plenty of people but I never picked on people weaker than myself." Ashe sighed and slipped off the motorcycle.

"Ashe, do you think we could try again sometime?"

"I don't know, Warren. I'm just really confused right now, you know with boys, school, powers, and just growing up. I feel all mixed up and don't know which way is up." Warren nodded and watched her walk inside. Once in her room Ashe slipped out on the roof and sighed and put her hands together forming a ball of lightning between them and let it grow as she slowly and carefully let go of her frustration. Principal Powers told her this worked a lot better at relieving stress than meditating and now she was going to find out if it was true. When she felt like she was holding all of her frustration in a bright ball of energy she pulled back then tossed it in the air with all her might.


	9. Chapter 9

The next day Lash waited for Ashe next to her locker to give her the drawing and to apologize for the previous night. When she showed up he wasn't surprised to see that she didn't have her customary smile for him.

"Hey Ashe, I'm sorry about last night I didn't mean to stand you up for the movie."

"You think I'm upset about the movie?"

"Isn't that why you took off with Peace?" Lash assumed.

"No, that's why I showed up with Warren but I left and am upset because you just stood by and laughed while that guy bullied those little kids." Ashe explained.

"He's my best friend what was I supposed to do?"

"Be the bigger person and tell him to stop. Did you even see how upset those kids were?"

"Yeah, Speed had them crying their eyes out." Lash laughed and Ashe glared at him before walking to class. Lash sighed feeling three inches tall. He folded up his drawing and slipped it in her locker knowing on instinct that she was not going to be willing to talk to him for the rest of the day, maybe even the rest of the week.

Lash was right too. He sat next to her in science and was shunned by her.

Ashe found the picture right before her private lesson and stared at it amazed by the detail Lash had put into it, he drew her hovering with a heart floating between her hands and a secret smile on her lips.

"Wow that's really good." She looked over her shoulder at Layla and hung it up especially admiring the lightning design applied to her name. "So I was thinking that if you're not going to go to the dance with Lash maybe you can go with Warren."

"I'm still planning on going with Lash." Ashe replied matter-of-factly and smiled spotting a black and white sleeve around the corner.

"Oh I wasn't sure since you were ignoring him." Layla said. Ashe grabbed her stuff and headed to class. At the end of the day she just wanted to go home and relax, it had seemed that everyone wanted to know what was going on between her and Lash, it seemed though that she was going to have to deal with it one last time, and not in a way she expected. When she got to the house she was beyond surprised to see Xander standing on the doorstep.

"Who's the god?" Magenta asked Layla as they followed Will inside. Blonde hair, sun kissed skin, perfect facial features, and a rock hard body fit for a surfer, it was no wonder why Magenta called him a god.

"What are you doing here, Xander?" She asked nervously.

"Well I was doing some thinking and I realized that you really didn't mean to put me in the hospital, and I was hoping we could try to give this relationship thing another try."

"I've had a crush on you since the sixth grade and when you asked me of all people to homecoming, last year, it blew my mind and when I accidently shocked you I felt terrible. A year ago if you'd come to me saying you wanted to try again I'd have said yes in a New York Minute, but as it stands now I kind of have a boyfriend." Xander studied Ashe for a minute and smiled.

"I can wait."


	10. Chapter 10

Lash spotted Ashe talking to the blond guy as was on his way to see her and apologize for his childish behavior at the park.

"Why wait?"

"Because, Ashe I know girls like you. You'll stay with this guy and wonder all the while what your missing in these perfect arms."

"You know what? I think I'll live without knowing." Ashe snapped and walked into the house. Lash slipped around the corner and lifted himself up to her bedroom window. "Why didn't you use the door?" She asked opening the window.

"I didn't want that guy to see me." He told her, without knowing why but it was the truth.

"I wish you would have, only so he could see that I'm not interested in his muscles."

"You're not?" Lash asked.

"No, now get in here before someone notices the ten foot giant next to me window." Lash slipped inside and looked at Ashe who was working on her mad science homework.

"Man I completely forgot that we had to build jet packs this week."

"Don't worry about it, it's not due until Friday. I just needed something to do with my hands." Lash sat on the bed next to her and looked into her blue eyes, grabbing her hands and forcing them still.

"I'm sorry for my behavior at the park the other day, it was childish and I should have done something about it."

"It's ok, Lash I overreacted a little, you're not perfect and you were with your best friend who probably isn't trying to right his past mistakes like we are." Ashe replied. Lash smiled weakly at her before wrapping his arms around her and tickling her again. At that moment he felt more of a connection with her than he had with any other person he'd ever known. After a short tickle fight the two laid together on her bed just staring at each other.

"You know we are like mirrors of each other." He said brushing her hair back behind her ear. "We both did a lot of mean things to people, until we did something that made us stop and really think about what we're doing with our lives and now we're trying to reform." Ashe nodded and slipped her hand in his. He lightly squeezed her hand as he continued to stare into her eyes.

"I think," she started after a while "that we should make this official." Lash propped himself up on his elbow and stared at her surprised.

"You want to be my girlfriend?"

"Yes, why is that so hard to believe?" Ashe replied looking at him confused.

"I just figured with someone like Warren Peace or that guy outside waiting for you you'd rather not be stuck with a guy like me."

"Lash, I like you a lot and I don't feel the need to meditate when you're around. You make me feel normal and that's all I want." Lash smiled.

"All right then, if you're sure." Ashe just nodded. Ashe looked at his watch and sighed.

"I need to get home for supper. I'll see you tomorrow." He said then winked before stepping out the window."


	11. Chapter 11

Homecoming had finally arrived and Lash looked very handsome in his tux as he stood anxiously outside the gym doors waiting for Ashe to show up. He'd planned something kind of special for her for tonight, and hoped she didn't electrocute him for it.

"What's wrong Stretch? Not going to stand her up are you?" Lash looked at Warren who looked to be just dying to swoop in and mend Ashe's broken heart.

"Not a chance Sulfur-breath." Lash replied. Warren opened his mouth to say something but then Ashe appeared looking just as nervous as Lash as she warily touched her hair which was cut until it came to just below her chin. "You look amazing." Lash said walking up to her. He touched the ends of her copper hair and smiled at her. "It's cute."

"Thanks, Aunt Josie cut it." Lash smiled and escorted his girlfriend inside. She looked around then leaned up to his ear. "I wonder what they'll do for prom." Ashe said and Lash went pale, he hadn't thought about prom. She laughed at him and pulled him to the dance floor. The couple didn't even notice the two pairs of dark eyes watching them.

Will walked over to his best friend and looked over at his cousin and her boyfriend.

"They do kind of . . ."

"Will, I really hope you don't finish that statement."

"Why do you care so much?" Will asked. Warren stood there silently watching them, and then finally sighed.

"I felt something special for her." He finally confessed.

Ashe's fingers were tingling but in a good way, and Lash looked more nervous than ever as a slow song started playing.

"Lash, what's wrong?" She asked.

"I'm a bit nervous." He told her honestly.

"Why?" He smiled then leaned down and kissed her for the first time. There was a small zap when their lips met but other than that there wasn't too big of a shock. Lash slid his tongue across her lips and she parted them slightly, he slipped it inside and slowly searching her mouth. They pulled away and stared at each other with a glazed look in their eyes. "Wow." Ashe finally whispered.

"Yeah." Lash agreed pulling her closer. She rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes just enjoying the feel of him next to her. After the dance was over the two sat on the steps of the Stronghold house and stared up at the night sky until Josie called Ashe inside.

"I'll see you later." Ashe whispered.

"You can bet on it." He replied and kissed her again.

"Did you have fun?" Steve asked her when she came inside.

"Uh-huh." She replied lightly.

"Anything interesting happen?" Josie asked watching her niece walk up the stairs.

"Not really." Ashe replied. In her room sitting in the dark was Will and when Ashe turned on the light and saw him she instinctively lashed out slamming him against the wall and zapping him at the same time stopping as soon as she recognized him.


	12. Chapter 12

**A.N.: I'm back, thank you to all my loyal readers who haven't given up on me yet. I promise it won't be so long between posts again.**

"Will, what the hell are you doing in here?"Ashe demanded.

"You really upset Warren tonight." He told her. She just stared at him blankly. "Ashe, he likes you more than I've known him to like anyone, but all you seem to care about is a would-be villain." Ashe glared at her cousin then sent him sliding up the wall.

"Let's get something straight, William Theodore Stronghold, Lash Garrison has paid for what he's done and is trying to become a better person because of it. Now the next time you decide to say something about my boyfriend I will duct tape you to the roof of the house. As far as Warren is concerned he had his shot." She let go of him and he fell to the floor with a thump then crawled out of her room. Ashe sighed, then went to take a shower. She slept in the next day and jumped when she woke up and Warren was sitting on the edge of her bed giving her a charming smile.

"Afternoon, sleep well?"

"Warren, what are you doing here?"

"I was wondering if you talked to Lash yet about partnering up for Save the Citizen?"

"No, Warren, I haven't. I've had other things on my mind." Ashe replied, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. Warren nodded and continued to stare at her. "What?"

"You really do look cute with short hair. Different but cute." She lowered her eyes and thanked him for the compliment. "Remember our first date?"

"Warren, don't do this." Ashe pleaded. "I want to be your friend but you can't keep thinking of the past." Warren's jaw tightened and he stood up.

"I can't be your friend, Ashe. I care for you too much to be able to just sit back and watch you be with someone else." She stared at him, speechless. "I want all of you, Ashe, and if I can't have that, I won't take any of you." He snapped then walked out of the door. That evening as she sat in the park, she kept hearing that last sentence over and over. Was it a confession of love Warren Peace style? Or was she reading too much into it? It had sounded right but to think of Warren declaring his love to anyone. It just didn't seem likely.

"Boo!" Ashe jumped for the third time in twenty-four hours, then smiled and hugged her friend Claire. Claire was a joker, never taking anything seriously and that combined with her ability to control water didn't always work out so well for bystanders, especially when she'd get Ashe to lose control of her power and then combined her water powers with it. That little prank had almost gotten them both expelled from school. "Why so serious?" Claire asked, plopping down on the bench next to Ashe.

"I think my ex-boyfriend told me he loves me." Ashe told her. Claire rolled her eyes.

"You shouldn't be worried about what a guy says, most of the stuff they say is complete bull anyway."

"Not with Warren. Warren only says what he means." Claire tilted her head.

"You mean that hottie with the fire?" Ashe nodded. "You two broke up? Wow, I thought for sure he was going to end up in the hospital too." Claire laughed but Ashe stayed silent. Claire sighed then started juggling water balls. "Fine! I'll play shrink. How do you feel about his confession?"

"Like it couldn't have come at a worse time, I really like my new boyfriend."


	13. Chapter 13

"So you dumped someone who is literally hot for someone who can make himself bigger." Ashe ignored the innuendo, she knew Claire had put on the sentence and just looked at her friend.

"Claire, I know you couldn't understand the beauty of this but Lash makes me feel normal and what's even better my powers don't act up when he's around."

"You want to be normal? Well here let me try to drown you that might make you normal." Claire laughed. Ashe just looked at her, they had tried that once, just to see what would happen and found that when placed in mortal danger her telekinesis wrapped her in a protective bubble. They stood up and made their way back to the Stronghold house where Lash was walking toward the front door.

"Hey beautiful." He called, spotting her.

"Hi handsome." Claire replied. "Oh you were talking to Ashe." She joked.

"Lash, this is Claire, she doesn't know how to be serious." Lash smiled and held his hand out to her.

"Oh you have big hands. You know what they say about guys with big hands." Lash laughed nervously, and wrapped an arm around Ashe.

"Shall we go in?" Ashe asked, stepping up to the door, trying to ignore the look in Claire's eyes. It was a look she had seen several times in the past three years, it was a calculating look that always appeared when Claire found something she liked. What Ashe didn't realize was that she wasn't the only one who noticed the look in Claire's eyes and she wasn't the only one who didn't like it. They made their way to her room where they all sat down and Claire told them about what was going on at Command Central High. Lash sat as close to Ashe as he could keeping a hand on her leg.

"So Lash, Ashe says that you can stretch your body, does that mean all of your body?"

"I don't think that's any of your business." Lash replied defensively, wrapping a comforting arm around Ashe, who'd grown too quiet and was playing with her hands.

"You're right, but I must admit that being able to make body parts longer sounds a lot better than just being able to make things wet."

"Claire, will you stop, please?" Ashe pleaded.

"What? I'm just making friendly conversation."

"It's a little too friendly to be having with my boyfriend." Claire just shrugged smiling then looked at Ashe's alarm clock.

"Oh well, I've got to go anyway, and I almost forgot, Xander says 'hi'." She informed, before walking out of the room.

"Some friend she is." Lash commented, once she was gone.

"Claire isn't normally like that, it's just that when she sees something she wants she goes for it with no regard for others." Ashe replied, leaving out that she usually got what she wanted too. Lash pulled her to lie down on the bed with him and kissed her.

"I missed you." He whispered, tucking her hair behind her ear.

"I missed you too." She replied, snuggling closer to him. "I want you to avoid being alone with Claire."

"Hey, don't worry, Ashe. We have a connection, a real, deep connection, that I'm not going to risk losing for anything. I don't know exactly what we have, but I know it's good." Ashe smiled at him and he kissed her deeply. The connection they shared was real and deep and good, but still Ashe worried, he just didn't know Claire the way she did.


	14. Chapter 14

On Monday when Ashe saw Warren at school she couldn't meet his eyes, his words just kept playing themselves over and over again in her head. When she got to her locker she forgot what she was doing.

"You ok?" Layla asked walking up to her.

"Yeah, I just have a lot on my mind." Ashe replied, pulling out her gym clothes.

"You look kind of lost." Layla pointed out. Ashe just looked back at the red head and smiled. A hand came up to her holding some flowers, then the hand was followed, leisurely, by Lash's body.

"Hey Beautiful." He greeted "What's wrong?" Layla took the flowers and arranged them for Ashe on her locker door.

"I just have a lot on my mind." Ashe said again, walking to the gym with him. "Warren wants you to be his partner in Save the Citizen, sometime."

"How do you feel about that?" He asked.

"I don't know, Warren doesn't say anything he doesn't mean but I don't really understand why he'd want to team up." Ashe told him honestly, then went into the girls' locker room. She was so preoccupied by her thoughts she didn't even notice Kayla behind her, until she was drenched in snow. "You just never learn do you, your royal icyness?" She deadpanned.

"Like you'd really do something about it." Ashe closed her eyes and reached out with her mind, until she heard Kayla gasp.

"You feel that? That pressure around your heart? That's me grabbing it with my telekinesis. I could kill you just by squeezing just a little tighter." She let go, then leaned over and lightly touched one of the lockers sending an electric charge through it, just enough to jump out and shock the other girl, then she looked up at the over head light and made it burst. "Or in a world dominated by electronics I could just electrocute you. You see Kayla I am my own personal death ray, so if I were you I would back off." She marched into the gym and smiled at Lash.

"What did you do to Kayla? She looks like you've just given her the plague."

"I just gave her a small does of my power." Ashe informed. She didn't like taking things to that extreme, but she felt that it was the only way that the blonde was going to leave her alone. At lunch Warren sat across from Ashe and stared at her.

"Resorting to death threats now?" He asked.

"Going to report me to the principal?" Ashe returned.

"I could." Warren said softly.

"But you won't and even if you did the only proof that I did anything is a broken light. I'm not as careless as everyone thinks I am." Lash sat next to her and the two young men glared at each other, it was like watching two dogs about to fight over a bone. Ashe just sighed and ate her lunch.

When she got home, Ashe laid on her bed and stared at the ceiling wondering what was going on with her today. She normally detested violence outside of a playful sort, so why would she threaten someone's life? Was she destined to be a villain after all? Ashe held up one of her hands and stared at it, imaging the power flowing through it wondering if they were the hands of evil.


	15. Chapter 15

Over the course of the next few days' Ashe avoided everyone as much as she possibly could, still upset over her own behavior on Monday. She knew though that sooner or later Lash would corner her and ask what was going on. It happened on Thursday. Ashe had missed school to go to the clinic and talk to her consular, about the incident, which turned out to be a waste of time considering all the crock told her was that her hormones were making her act out and that in time she would get past it.

When she got home, Lash was sitting on the patio patiently awaiting her arrival.

"Ashe did I do something wrong?" He asked her. Ashe sighed and sat next to him. "We were fine until Claire showed up and now you're avoiding me and acting jumpy."

"It's not you, Lash." She told him, slipping her hand in his. "Remember on Monday, when Kayla was looking at me weirdly?" He nodded. "I threatened her life and then when Warren confronted me about it I pretty much just told him to prove it. I don't like that I did that." Lash wrapped his arms around her and held onto her. "I don't want to be that kind of person."

"You are not like that." He said, gently turning her head to look at him. "You are sweet and determined. If you don't want to be like that then you won't." She searched his eyes, wanting to believe him but afraid to. "We'll help each other right? Just like we have been." Ashe nodded, leaning against him, thankful to have such an understanding guy in her life.

The next day she was feeling more like herself and she knew she had Lash to thank for that. He was good for her, there was no other way to put it, even Will had to admit that Lash did good things for his cousin.

As the two were sitting in chemistry, Mr. Medulla began talking about a formula that suppressed powers.

"There are certain members of our government who wish to use it on inmates who have powers, but there are two problems with that; One being the formula only lasts about an hour, and two being bleeding-heart protesters saying it's against human rights to forcefully suppress a person's power."

"Mr. Medulla, is there anyway we can see a demonstration?" Ashe asked.

"Are you volunteering, Miss Lyons?" The teacher asked, looking a bit too excited over the idea.

"Yes." Everyone stared at her, as she got up and made her way to the front of the classroom. Medulla went behind the table and pulled out a syringe and a small bottle of a green looking liquid. He got the syringe ready, then stuck it in Ashe's neck, pushing the formula into her blood. She could actually feel her powers ebbing away.

"Now, Miss Lyons, please give us a demonstration." Ashe nodded and reached her hand out toward one of the lights, willing it to blow out, but nothing happened. She looked at the syringe laying next to her and tried to pick it up with her mind. Still, nothing happened. Ashe went back to her seat and couldn't help but smile, she felt great, this was the closest she'd felt to being normal since the day she got her powers. Lash grabbed her arm and gave it a soft squeeze. For the next hour Ashe was happier than she'd been in a long time.

"You really would prefer to be normal, wouldn't you?" Lash asked, watching her grin.

"Or at least have some different powers." She replied.


End file.
